


Wounded

by darkkwater



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: BDSM, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 09:51:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6465652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkkwater/pseuds/darkkwater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David is frustrated by Colby always messing up the blind dates he sets up for him, but Colby has his reasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wounded

**Wounded**

"What is wrong with you, man?" David snapped. 

Colby winced. 

David continued angrily, "I keep setting up these dates for you and you keep flaming out! This time she said, 'He's cute but there's something about him that gives me the creeps.' What are you _doing_?" 

Colby flushed and mumbled, "I don't know. It seemed to go okay." 

"Okay? You're not an idiot, Granger. Can't you get through an hour with a girl without coming off like a psycho?" 

"I'll do better next time." 

"Next time? I'm running out of friends to set you up with! My sister has already said any more of her friends are off-limits! Didn't any of your 'interrogation training' include how to be nice to someone?" 

Colby dropped his head lower and mumbled something that sounded like another apology. 

David threw up his hands in frustration. "Fine, fine, I do have a few more ideas. Most of the time I just have to show them your picture for them to agree to a first date. You've got to get your act together, though, if you ever want any second dates." 

Colby nodded and turned to leave. 

David sighed and watched him go. He'd keep trying, he had to. Everyone needed someone. 

  
  


Don knew before he opened the door who it was. He'd expected the doorbell for the last half hour. He opened the door and looked at Colby with exasperation. "What did the girl say this time?" 

Colby shrugged. "I gave her the creeps." 

Don rolled his eyes. "You have _got_ to stop doing this. It isn't fair to the girl and it isn't fair to David. He's trying to help you and you know just what to do to make the girl uncomfortable without her being able to point to anything specific." 

Colby shrugged again and looked at Don with that bashful smile on his face that - God help him - Don had never been able to resist. And he should have resisted. Should resist now too, probably. Don opened the door wider and stepped back to let Colby in. 

  
  


Two hours later, they lay together on Don's bed - naked, sweaty and exhausted. Colby was curled against Don's side, his head on Don's chest. Don ran his hand over the lovingly placed whip marks covering Colby's back. He examined Colby's face - his eyes were red and puffy from the tears that he always denied crying, even when they were running down his face. It had been a hard session, Colby holding out even longer than usual before letting go. Don wondered if Colby had really liked this latest girl that David set him up with. The idea made Don's chest clench. 

Don demanded, "Don't you know it makes me jealous when you go out on these dates?" 

Colby lifted his head and stared at him. "Captain?" 

Don shook his head. "The mission is over, soldier," he said, using the language that they'd developed over the last year together. "The mission is over and you've been debriefed. I'm not 'Captain' any more, I'm just Don." 

Colby licked his lips and said carefully, "You're jealous… Don?" 

Don ran his fingers over Colby's whip-marked shoulder. "Yeah." 

Colby stared at him for a long moment, then a small, shy smile crept onto his lips. 

Don's chest tightened again and he realized that he was in danger of losing his heart to this desperately damaged, amazingly strong man lying next to him. 

"You like that idea?" Don said with a wry smile. "You like making me jealous?" 

Colby shrugged uncomfortably. "I just never thought that…" 

"Colby…" Don sighed, but didn't say anything more. It didn't surprise him that Colby had assigned a purely utilitarian meaning to their time together. First there was the warm-up, then the whipping or whatever other stimulation Colby needed that day to break through his crippling personal barriers and sob until he was empty. Following that was always an intense, room-trashing bout of sex, with both men taking and giving, in a frenzied, joyful coupling that left both of them exhausted and trembling. Only someone so broken as Colby would think that Don was unmoved by the experience. 

It was true that the secrets that Colby had sobbed out during their sessions would have turned anyone's stomach, but Don had worked hard to convince him that he would never use those secrets against him. They'd colored Don's perception of Colby - how could they not? - but they had been far outweighed by the depth and integrity that those secrets also revealed. Yet along with his strong soul, Colby was a tangled mess of tightly suppressed emotions. Coaxing those emotions free and into full bloom was so beautiful that it never failed to take Don's breath away. 

Don knew, however, that he couldn't say any of this, couldn't say what Colby was becoming to him, or he'd risk Colby reverting back to the shut-down, self-loathing creature that a year ago Don had found huddled in a corner of his apartment after having gone missing for eight days. 

Don tried a less direct approach. "You need to tell David. He's your partner. He'll understand." 

The fear jumped into Colby's eyes anyway and Don stroked Colby's back while making soothing sounds in his throat, like for a wild animal. 

"Tell him what?" Colby finally managed. 

"As much as you want to." 

"About…" Colby gestured at the torn-up room and their naked bodies. 

"If you like," Don said, keeping his voice low and calm. "He's a good man, he'll understand." 

Colby just stared at him and his body began to tense with fear and doubt. 

Don said, "You don't have to tell him about you and me, if you're not ready. You could just tell him that you prefer men but want to keep that private." 

Colby's fingers dug into Don's chest and Don could see Colby retreating behind his eyes, starting to shut down. 

"Hey, hey," Don said, holding onto him. "Forget it. It's okay. Come back to me, Colby." Colby didn't respond, so Don continued, "Hey, you don't have to tell him that, it's okay." 

Colby stared at him for longer, his eyes searching Don's face for something that only he knew. Finally, he relaxed minutely. 

Don sighed and shook his head. "Please just tell him no more blind dates." 

After a moment, Colby visibly swallowed then said softly, "But he'll try something else then." 

Don nodded. It was true - ever since David had learned that Colby wasn't close to his family and had no friends outside work, David had been trying to help expand Colby's social circle. Don didn't doubt David could sense the same desperate loneliness in Colby that Don had sensed. Don had found quite a different way of approaching it though. 

"How about this…" Don said slowly, choosing his words with care. "How about you tell him that you might have met someone but you need time to see where it's going?" 

"You think he'll buy that?" 

"Think of me when you tell him and he'll buy it." 

Colby started to say something then stopped. After a moment, he nodded slowly and Don released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Colby reached a hand towards Don's face, but halfway there, he clenched it into a fist and he pulled it back again. He rested the fist, trembling, on Don's chest. 

"Thank you, Captain," he said softly. 

"Colby, it's…" Don shook his head and smiled gently. "You're welcome, soldier." 

  
  



End file.
